The Hold of an Ocean
by Lazerwolf314
Summary: Things can never be the same after returning to echoes. But's she's going to try. Sequel to Moonligh On the Sea.
1. Chapter 1

**The Hold of an Ocean**

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><p>I run to the river and dive straight in<br>I pray that the water will drown out the din  
>But as the water fills my mouth<br>It couldn't wash the echoes out

~ Drumming Song : Florence + The Machine

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><p>Andy McNally sat silently on the beach with her eyes closed and wind tugging playfully at her hair. The wet sand beneath her was cold against her legs, the moisture already seeping through her jeans, but she didn't pay notice. She rather liked the chill. This kind of sand was rough, full of sharp little stones and broken bits of shell, not the fine stuff most people assumed all sand was. It was dirtier and edgier.<p>

It felt good between her fingers.

Tracing her hands through the sand, up and down and back again, she smiled as the grit irritated the pads of her fingers and stuck wetly to her skin. Wrapped in a lightweight jacket, the wind had just enough bite to keep her from falling asleep in the sun and fresh air. She had no badge at her hip, no gun at her side, just a set of keys in one pocket and a phone in the other. She felt at ease.

Inhaling the smells of autumn, all waterlogged leaves and cool air, she blinked and stared across the expanse of water in front of her. At first, the blinding glare from the setting sun dazzled her but eventually faded as the ball of fire sank lower in the sky. Leaving behind a stunning after image and diamonds of light sparkling off the surface, Andy's eyes finally focused on the water itself.

She cursed when the slick need filled her belly. Slamming her eyes shut once again, she knuckled at them angrily.

It was the same, every damn time she caught a glance of any body of water, leaping from the shadows of her mind and whispering sickly things in her ear. Things that brought forth hideous nightmares in the middle of sleep and made her wish she could just crawl back inside herself.

But it was better now.

The first time after her death and return to life, she had been curled under a warm blanket on her dad's couch, simply drifting off to the lull of the television. Eyes half-mast, she had almost missed the coverage of the tropical storm somewhere off the coast of Jamaica. The reporter was almost finished, the video footage nearing the final seconds, when all of a sudden Andy was staring at the raging ocean.

She spent over three hours curled in a ball on the bathroom floor, breathing into a paper back, Tommy sitting just outside, talking steadily to her. Somehow, her father seemed to have understood her nearly destructive actions, in a way that made her wonder.

Now, it only took about a minute of deep breathing and remembering the expression on Sam's face when she had walked away those months ago to calm her down.

That damn look of a heartbroken, kicked puppy had become part of her torturous nightmares. The self-loathing grew every single time his broken eyes and shattered face filled her memories, the knowledge she had let him hope, let him believe, things would be okay for those three days hurting her in ways she didn't know she could feel. She knew, without a doubt, that she would never do anything which would bring that expression back on Sam's face, even if it tore at her insides.

Because, even as she hated him for bringing him back, she loved him to a point where seeing his pain made it her own.

Sometimes it hurt to remember she once loved the water. It hurt even more to remember how the wildness of it had once saved her from herself.

Ever since she had responded to a call at the South Pier and shot point-blank in the back while standing on the edge, thus resulting into a tumble into the water, things had been different for Andy. Sounds and smells became too harsh, overly loud or strong. Colors turned dull and mute, taste was no longer an experience which provided joy. Life itself had lost its luster, leaving her in a spiral of self-preservation, anger and longing to once again return to the place she had ended up. A place she could only describe as heaven.

Technically dead for almost eight minutes, she had left behind the land of the living and found herself where she was at peace. And then she had been brought back, tethered to life by Sam's frantic pleas for her survival. Brought back to a world she no longer had the energy to survive. A world filled with mothers who left, fathers who drank, children who robbed, killed and destroyed themselves and people who found love, only to have it torn away.

What kind of world was that?

Sucked into morose thoughts, ones she had to lock in a box at the back of her mind in order to function, Andy jumped when a sound pierced the haze.

The cellphone in her pocket chirped once, vibrating against her hip and she muttered one more curse. Checking the message from Traci asking where she was, she shook her head at her friend's anxiousness_. _Andy knew she would make it to Traci's on time for the little get together that had been thrust upon her, much as she wished she could simply go home and sleep. Springing to her feet and spinning away from the shore before she let the light past her eyelids, she half walked, half jogged up the fence separating sand from pavement and leapt over.

The lock snapped firmly shut on the memories, closing away the box for later when it would invariably open again and come pouring out.

She slipped into the cab of her dad's truck, lent to her while he was at a poker game with a few of his buddies, and started the engine. The vehicle rumbled to life, radio filling the air with muted sounds of a classic rock station and she deftly turned away from the sand and drove back towards the city.

She made a quick stop at the liquor store to grab a bottle of red as a gift and proceeded through the streets, pulling to a halt at the end of Jerry's driveway, where Traci currently lived. There were already a smattering of other cars there and Andy was surprised by the amount. She thought the group was only going to be the rookies.

Correction.

The rookies plus herself.

However, it turned out she was wrong. Taking a short moment to breath, to make sure those locks on her box were secure, she eyed the house for a while.

Then she jumped from the cab and headed for the door.

It had been four months since Andy McNally had died. Three and a half were spent putting herself back together, even with missing pieces. And she still wasn't whole, didn't quite know if she ever would be. But she was trying, for her dad's sake, her friends' sake.

For Sam's sake.

For him, she would try. Because he seemed to be the only spark left in her darkening world.

...

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><p><em>...<em>

_Author's Note: Hello readers! I feel I should mention this first; no, chapter six of Moonlight On the Sea was not, in fact, an April Fool's joke. I didn't even realize it was April Fool's. So, this was born._

_An important note for this chapter is that it is set up to give the reader the background they need for the story (if you have not read Moonlight On the Sea, I would suggest you do so) with previous stories containing the bulk of writing._

_Also, I would like to announce I have commenced '**The Rookies Choice Awards'**, where authors can be both recognized and recognize those stories they deem amazing and we would like to encourage each reader and author alike to participate in nominating their favorite fics and authors for the first year of the "_Rookies Choice Awards__!" The nomination ballot, rules and category summaries can each be found (in time) at "The Parade" Forum. To reach those posts, please take a trip to the forum itself. We look forward to hearing from each of you!__

_In order to get the word out to as many as possible, we ask you, our fellow authors and readers, to let others know of this exciting opportunity. Whether by author's notes or Facebook, please let everyone know that the awards season will begin soon._

_Thank you to all readers and reviewers. As always, you are all amazing. Any comments, thoughts, concerns and critiques are always welcome and always appreciated._

_I have opened a poll on my profile in regards to Moonlight On the Sea and a companion piece; please stop in and check it out._

_Thank you!_


	2. Chapter 2

**The Hold of an Ocean**

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><p>Grabbing the bottle of red and switching off the truck, Andy pulled on the door latch and stepped out. The sun had slid below the horizon and had left the lingering of shadows in the dusk and the sky streaked with pink. The wind had died down, trapped as it was between the buildings, but the air had chilled, making Andy wish she was wearing a warmer coat.<p>

Locking the truck with an absent hand, she made her way around the collage of cars belonging to her friends and people who had once been her colleagues and up the drive. Reaching the entryway, she tucked the bottle of wine in the crook of her left arm and knocked loudly with her right.

From the window to the left of the door, she could see into what looked like a family den. She could see Leo stretched out on his stomach and drawing enthusiastically on a piece of paper before him. No one else was in sight, meaning they were probably in the kitchen. The room was filled with light and colors, warmth seeming to bleed from beneath the heavy wood door itself. Andy could hear the sounds of muted laughter and talking from within, happiness bubbling in the atmosphere.

Already, she felt out of place, the waterlogged cat on the doorstep.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

But even as she turned to make her escape back to the shelter of her dad's truck, the doorknob was rattled and the door pulled open.

"Oh, no you don't Andy," Traci grumbled from the threshold. "You promised me you would come over and hang out. Don't tell me you're backing out now."

Guilt always seemed to work.

With a defeated sigh, Andy faced her friend with a glower. It was met and matched, the anger in Traci's look only vanishing when she spotted the wine in Andy's arms.

"I don't really have a choice do I?" Andy enquired, allowing herself to be tugged into the happy house like a dark cloud, and handed the bottle to Traci.

"No. Now go say hi to Leo. He's missed you." With that last shot of guilt, Traci went through the family den and patted her son's head as she passed, continuing to what Andy could only guess to be the dining room or kitchen. The little boy grinned happily and sprang to his feet when he caught sight of her, careening across the carpet and launching himself bodily into her arms. Unprepared for the attack, Andy stumbled backwards and landed in a heap at the foot of the staircase.

"Aunty Andy!" he cried, cackling wildly when they tumbled to the ground. "I missed you, I missed you, I missed you!"

"I missed you too," she exclaimed with a laugh, pulling the small boy up onto her shoulders. Clambering slowly to her feet, conscious of the child on her back, she felt Leo's hands grasp her hair and tug gently.

"Will you give me a ride Aunty Andy?" he asked shyly.

Reaching up, she grasped his feet and said, "sure thing. Where do you want to go?"

" 'Round the couches!"

"Alright, but hold on tight."

Leo shrieked wildly when she took off, grasping tightly to her neck as they bounced around the room. It took only short seconds for the boy's enthusiasm to become contagious and a grin spread across Andy's face. She was laughing just as loudly as him by the time she collapsed onto one of Jerry's comfortable couches.

The unhappy dark cloud was gone, leaving behind a bright smile that only a child could place in anyone's spirit.

Leo jumped happily from her back and raced back to his coloring. Andy could see figures moving in the adjoining room, some watching Leo and her, others talking amongst themselves, but she ignored their weighted gazes and rolled from her sprawled position to follow the boy to his pictures.

Settling herself next to him and panting lightly, she pushed the strands of hair that had fallen into her vision away and peered down at the papers between them.

Brilliant scribbles of crayon coated the pages, some in the shapes of cats or dogs, others what looked to be large blobs of smiling colors. Each and every one had Leo's name scrawled in the corner like a professional artist and Andy could see the care he had put into signing them each time.

Picking up the nearest, a neon green cat with a question mark tail, Andy murmured, "These are awesome Leo."

"Really?" He looked up at her nervously. "Do you want it?"

"Yes, I love them. Thank you."

The look of such immense relief and pleasure that crossed the child's face warmed Andy's heart. Seconds later, he ducked his head and handed her a blue crayon and a piece of paper, peering at her expectantly from under his lashes.

She giggled softly and shook her head, but stretched out on her stomach next to him, perfectly content with spending the evening with Leo instead of the officers. Here, next to the small and warm body, there was no fear of flashbacks or questions that would choke her. Here, coloring in the middle of the den with a slew of brand new crayons, she was lightweight and free.

"I'm really glad you came to visit Aunty Andy," Leo whispered.

"Yeah, buddy. Me too."

The sounds and conversations from the other room faded as she joined Leo in his bubble of carefree drawing and breath came easier as she placed the blue crayon to paper and started to draw in loops and whorls, no real purpose.

She expected Traci would probably drag her into the dining room to be good company in a few moments.

A knock at the door shifted her attention from the doodling, but Leo remained focused. She got to her feet and spotted Traci emerging from the kitchen out of the corner of her eye. Lifting a hand, Andy nodded to let her friend know she would get the door.

She ignored the stab of hurt at the look of shock that flitted across Traci's expression. But the smile fell from her face.

Handing Leo the blue crayon, Andy made her way through the den and to the door. Dragging a semblance of calm back in place, her lips twitched into what could pass as a pleasant expression and she pulled the heavy wood open.

Having been under the impression only the rookies and herself would be there but having already been proved wrong, Andy was unprepared when she came face to face with the one man she was least looking forward to seeing; at least until she had put herself back together in the semblance of normalcy.

Sam.

...

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><p><em>...<em>

_Author's Note: Hello readers! So, this is re-write of what I had originally. At first, it was Sam who opened the door. But I couldn't get an end of the chapter. So, a few hours later and several rounds with Easter chocolate, I remembered Leo. I truly hope you all enjoyed the little boy!_

_Also, I would like to announce I have commenced '**The Rookies Choice Awards'**, where authors can be both recognized and recognize those stories they deem amazing and we would like to encourage each reader and author alike to participate in nominating their favorite fics and authors for the first year of the "_Rookies Choice Awards__!" The nomination ballot, rules and category summaries can each be found (in time) at "The Parade" Forum. To reach those posts, please take a trip to the forum itself. We look forward to hearing from each of you!__

_In order to get the word out to as many as possible, we ask you, our fellow authors and readers, to let others know of this exciting opportunity. Whether by author's notes or Facebook, please let everyone know that the awards season will begin soon._

_Thank you to all readers and reviewers. As always, you are all amazing. Any comments, thoughts, concerns and critiques are always welcome and always appreciated._

_I have opened a poll on my profile in regards to Moonlight On the Sea and a companion piece; please stop in and check it out._

_Thank you!_


	3. Chapter 3

**The Hold of an Ocean**

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><p>At first, neither reacted. It simply didn't register that the other was standing before them, something Sam had been praying for for months and something Andy had been dreading for months.<p>

There was a small moment of peace, where they regarded each other with neutrality. A sort of truce between them. Peace almost.

Then the stability cracked and walls tumbled to the ground.

His hand, still raised to knock, went slack and fell to his side. Eyes shot wide and color drained from skin as he stared at her and her, him. She stumbled back a step, hand dropping from its place on the door frame, the small smile he had seen playing on her lips disappearing.

He would have mimicked her retreat had his feet not been frozen to the cement steps.

Instead, he only watched in a mixture of sadness, acute pain and lingering shock as she turned her back on him and bolted for the kitchen. Then she was gone and air once again returned to his lungs. And with it, a sort of sick anger at the knowledge she couldn't even face him.

At that point, Sam noted Nash's little boy, Leo, standing in the middle of the living room in the midst of a spray of crayon drawings. His small eyes were darting back and forth between him and further into Jerry's house to where Sam knew the dining room lay. His lower lip trembled once slightly and, with one last glance at Sam, scooped up a pile of paper, most blank and one that looked like a green lump with a tail and his crayons, the child scuttled after Andy.

By that time, Sam had managed to release the door from his white knuckled grip and had taken a small step into the front hall.

Perhaps it was because they were police officers or perhaps it was because Nash had sensed something was wrong with her son, a group of people filtered from the dining room a moment later. Sam recognized the rookies and Jerry and Oliver. As they too glanced between and the direction her and Leo had disappeared, their expressions all settled into ones of pity.

Abruptly, he recalled the look on Andy's face when she first saw him. The happiness falling away in a snap to be replaced by blank emotionlessness and the quick jerk of her body back and away from him, anger flooded his body and slammed into the lingering shock and pain, destroying it. This anger left no room for much else but the red hot rage pumping in his system.

It was time for him to stand up for himself and not let her walk away again. The first time had been painful enough.

He didn't hear what his friends said as they watched him, intent only on chasing after her. She would not run.

He could live now with her hating him, he could live with the knowledge she wasn't on the bottom of a river, but he couldn't live with the idea of her running from him, terrified to even be in the same room.

Striding purposely through Jerry's well decorated living room and into the dimly light dining room, Sam made his way through the house to the half opened back door. It led out into a small grassy backyard, home to a picnic table and not much else. The lights from the house cast long shadows on the lawn, playing over the two figures in the grass.

For a moment, Sam paused at the door and felt a ripple of pain at seeing her hunched form. Andy was seated cross legged on the cool ground, head buried in her hands and back bent over herself in protection. Leo stood at her elbow, tugging worriedly at her sleeve. His paper and crayons lay abandoned at his feet.

But resolve was once again shouldered and Sam stepped through the opening, footfalls creaking on the planks of the small deck. She stiffened, but made no other move.

Leo looked up at Sam, small face creased with worry and confusion. "Mr. Sam, is Aunty Andy sick? Does she need a doctor?" he asked, his little voice quavering.

Descending the stairs to the grass below, Sam squatted so he was eye level with the boy. "No Leo. Don't you worry about Andy, I'll take care of her, I promise," he murmured.

He waited in silence as Leo studied him.

"Okay," he said after a beat.

Turning once again to Andy, Leo looked at the drawing in his hands. "Here you go Aunty Andy. Don't forget your picture." Tucking it gently on Andy's lap, the child met Sam's patient gaze before racing back into the house. Sam simply sat back in the grass, the anger roiling just beneath the surface but held firmly in check.

For a long while they were accompanied by only the chirp of crickets.

"Sam-" she started.

"No Andy. Do not tell me you need space. Not after for _goddamn _months of it." The leash on his emotions snapped (how quickly she undid him) and seethed free. "Four months where the only word I get about you is third hand from Jerry, who barely got it from Nash. God, you kill me McNally!" Rocking back, Sam stared up at the dark sky. It was speckled with stars. "I love you and I can't stand this anymore. Just talk to me, hate me if you want, but don't ever walk away." (Because if she walks away, he fears she will never return).

By then, his breath came in shallow gasps. He closed his eyes and fought the tremors wracking his body.

When a tentative hand brushed his arm, he jerked away on instinct, regretting it instantly when he blinked and saw her withdraw, ducking her head so it's hidden behind a curtain of hair.

"I-" he started, but she removed his words with her own.

"I don't hate you Sam. I could never hate you," she said in a voice so low, he had to strain to hear it. "I love you too, so much it hurts. It hurts to breathe some days when I think of you."

She watched as utmost astonishment covered his face.

"But the thing is…" (She hates the way the brilliant flare of joy dims when she starts talking again) "Whenever I think of you, I also remember. I remember how you pulled me out of the warmth and light and peace and back into this world. This screwed up, pain filled world. I was _safe_ but you brought me back. And there's a part of me, a part of me that I hate, that wishes you had never gotten in the water, that you had never found me."

She looked down, unable to stand the expression on his face any longer.

"I was in Heaven, I think, and I was at peace and then I wasn't. I was in the back of an ambulance with a stranger shocking my heart back to life. So, I'm trying so _hard _to forgive you, to put myself back together _for you_ and yet there's a piece of me that just wants to end it all so I don't have to deal with the love and the hate all mixed together. Each day, it gets a little bit smaller and a little bit smaller, but it's still there."

A tear slid down her cheek and Sam had gone deathly silent at her side.

"It just hurts," she finally admitted. "Everything, all the time. I hurt. And I want to be at your side, to sleep in your arms and feel whole and protected, but I can't. Not yet. But soon, I think."

She lifted her head, not bothering to swipe at the tears. His eyes glitter with unshed ones.

"Can you accept that? Can you just give me more time? I promise I won't walk away, I will _never _walk away, but will you promise to be here when the smoke clears?"

The tears spilled over, coursing freely down his face. She reached out and cupped a hand to his cheek and he grabbed at it tightly, clinging to it as a small child would it's mother.

"Yes Andy, I'll wait. Forever." The timber of his voice cracked as emotions and feeling all piled up in his throat.

"Thank you," she whispered, eyes closing as relief flooded her system. Her one fear, that he would simply give up, vanished in a puff of smoke. Moving the green crayon cat from her lap, she shifted forward so she leaned against his chest. A bubble of calm had surrounded her, one she knew wouldn't last forever, but she wasn't about to let it escape. He released her hand and his arms came around her, holding her close.

"Thank you," she repeated.

He said nothing.

They sat together, wrapped in each other's warmth, and watched the sky for the rest of the night.

...

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><p>...<p>

_Authors note: Hello!_

__Thank you to all readers and reviewers. As always, you are all amazing. Any comments, thoughts, concerns and critiques are always welcome and always appreciated.__

__Don't forget about **The Rookies Choice Awards**___being held this year!_

_Nomination ballots are now being accepted (you can find the full ballot posted on The Parade forum in the Rookie Blue fandom section) but please remember, you only have until **June 1st **to vote! Give your favorite authors the shoutout they deserve._

_We hope to see you around, and look forward to your choices!_

_Thanks._


	4. Chapter 4

**The Hold of an Ocean**

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><p>It was dawn when Andy left.<p>

She detached herself from Sam's side slowly but firmly and he didn't argue; he was too exhausted, both emotionally and physically, to argue. They didn't speak, just met each other's eyes for a long moment, communicating in their own way. Then, with a feather-light brush of her lips against his, she rocked to her feet and slipped into Jerry's house through the back door.

Sam's eyes followed Andy's form as she made her way into his friend's house, silent and thoughtful.

He had a vague notion of what she was going to do. Somehow, he sensed it and part of the ice around his heart had started to chip away. Perhaps it was because of the words she had let slipped sometime during the night or the words he had responded with.

_"It's like I'm stuck," Andy whispered as they gazed upwards. "I keep taking two steps forward, but always end up going backwards whether I like it or not. I keep trying to just press onwards, but I'm not going very far." _

_She sighed and closed her eyes._

_"Andy, even if you take two steps forward and one back, you will eventually get where you're going. You see?"_

_She blinked and tilted her head to regard him thoughtfully._

_"I think so."_

Inside, the lights were left on dim (sometime after two in the morning, Traci and Jerry had sent to rest of the party home and went to bed. Neither had protested to the two people seated in the backyard) and a pot of coffee had started to brew automatically.

Snagging a mug from the counter (it looked relatively clean, Andy noted), she poured herself a generous cup, sniffed at the dark liquid like a kitten to milk and dug her keys from her pocket. With a last glance at the backyard, where Sam sat and watched her with stormy eyes, she offered him a small smile before making her way to the front.

She wasn't running. But it was time to leave. Time to continue to put herself back together.

Hopping into the cab of her dad's truck, she fired the engine and backed out of the driveway, heading home. At the moment, she was filled with a sense of calm, something she hadn't felt since the accident and Andy was determined to hold onto it. After the night spent watching the stars and simply talking about everything and anything, Andy had come to realize what she had to do next.

She had to go backwards before she could go forwards.

For the past four months, she had known something was holding her back. It was blatantly obvious. Part of it was the feeling of loss after Sam had brought her back. But there had always been more to it; a wall she couldn't give a name too.

She thought it was her revulsion towards water. But it wasn't so simple.

Andy had to go back to the South Pier; 'take two steps forward and one step back and eventually, you'll get where you're going.'

An hour later, she found herself parked just beyond the fence, hands trembling in her jacket pockets and staring across the planks and through the shipping containers to the water.

Her vision had started to flicker between the present day sunshine of fall and the night darkness of late spring four months past.

_The night was quiet and the moon bright._

A new chain was wrapped around the bars of the entrance way, sturdy padlock in place. This early in the morning, there wouldn't be workers about for another hour or so. Taking a breath to stay her nerves, Andy walked quickly to the fence and scrambled over.

Landing lightly on the balls of her feet, Andy remained in a crouch for a moment, clinging strongly to the residual warmth and fearlessness Sam had left her with.

_Moonlight danced off the small waves, little diamonds on the water._

Standing, Andy made her way towards the closer buildings, peering in windows through habit. But all she saw was dark rooms and empty offices.

Much like before.

Threading her way through the smattering of containers, all she saw was the shadows of night and memories.

_Certain no one was about, she headed towards the shipping passage._

Following what she remembered, Andy made her way to the shipping passage, almost on autopilot. There was something storming within her, a mess of terror, loss and anguish.

There was a ship in the same slip as that night, although remarkably smaller and different shape, with more containers stacked much the same. The sun from the present had chased away any overhanging shadows where someone could hide.

_Cast in shadows from the moonlight and the container itself, they were easy to miss._

Skittering away from the ship anxiously, Andy felt her body begin to hyperventilate on its own. She fought to control her breathing as she neared the edge, the vast expanse of water growing larger before her.

Her stomach twisted in knots, Andy thought she was going to be sick. Instead, when she put her hands on her knees and bent at the waist, nothing came up.

_She should've seen them._

Almost there.

Only a few more meters.

You can do it.

Andy cursed herself when her body was wracked with shakes and couldn't move until they faded. But they did, battled away by her will to just finish this.

Slowly but surely, she approached the edge.

And then, she was there.

_Time snapped into high speed and the water welcomed her into its frozen embrace._

For a second, she stood strong and solid, gazing out over the water without a care in the world.

An instant later, her knees had given out on her and she curled into a ball, battered by so many emotions and memories and thoughts and pain at once, she couldn't think straight.

Andy remembered every detail of her fall, each second spent in the water and the eternity where she had been enveloped in warmth. It all came back at once, a barrage of sensations that ripped at her inside.

Just as suddenly has it had happened, the attack halted and Andy was left with a clear mind and light heart.

At first, she simply sprawled out on her back and grinned, breathing the air and smelling the water. Lifting her arms above her, she examined the faint pink lines marring the skin of her forearms, caused by the rough wood from the piers support beam, and a laugh bubbled from her lips.

The wall was gone.

After a while, she got to her feet, left the pier behind and headed to the truck.

She had taken her step backwards; she had gone back to beginning of all this and now she could start moving forward again.

She was well aware that simply visiting the pier and shattering the wall wasn't enough, not quiet, to finish putting her pieces back together. But now she knew where she was going.

And soon, just like she had promised Sam and intended to follow through, Andy would be able to love and live as she wished. The knowledge buoyed her and would keep her head above the metaphorical water.

…

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><p>...<p>

_Authors note: Thanks for reading!_

_As always, any comments, questions, concerns and critiques are always welcome and greatly appreciated._

_All italicized writing but for the first and large chunk, is taken from **Moonlight on the Sea** chapter one, if you haven't read it._

_Also, don't forgot to vote for the **Rookies Choice RB Awards **Final Ballot, which is now posted over on The Parade forum! The Final Ballot is opened until July 15th, where you can vote for your favorite fic in each category! Please stop by and send in your votes (you don't have to vote for each category)._

_A big thank you goes to dcj for helping me moderate the Awards._

_Thanks._


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